England are doing their best to convince this promising young Premier League talent to switch allegiances from the Republic of Ireland and line up for the Three Lions instead…
Aston Villa winger Jack Grealish is being courted by England in an attempt to convince him to switch nationalities from the Republic of Ireland according to Gareth Southgate.
SEE MORE:
Balotelli New WAG: Liverpool’s Mario Balotelli snapped with new WAG, stunning underwear model Tabby Brown.
Hardest Working Players: 15 hardest working players in the Premier League, Manchester United duo fighting for top spot.
Khedira Arsenal: Sami Khedira finally agrees to join Arsenal in cut price deal from Real Madrid.
The 19-year-old, who made his fifth appearance of the season against Manchester City on Saturday, will be playing for Ireland’s Under-21s on Thursday, but England hope they can eventually convince him to switch allegiances, according to the DailyMail.
Having been born and raised in Birmingham, Grealish qualifies to play for Ireland through his father. But even though he has played for Ireland at a number of youth levels, he could still make a u-turn and line up for England.
Current England Under-21s manager Gareth Southgate confirmed that the teenager was still on his radar, and it seems England are doing everything they can to convince the player he should forge his senior career as one of the Three Lions.
“Jack is somebody we have spoken to over the years, him and his family,” Southgate said. “He has been in our younger development teams. The family and Jack are aware of our interest. Up to this point they have preferred to remain with Ireland”
“More and more, because of the nature of society, there are players in our system who are duel nationality and have that choice to make.”
“You are allowed to switch once when you are a young player and Jack is someone we are monitoring and we’ll keep our eye on that situation.”
He doesn’t exactly sound positive about the chances of convincing the Aston Villa man, but if Grealish continues his development at the Premier League club then the chance to play for England may be too good to turn down.
Aston Villa got off to a great start this campaign, something of a surprise package after the opening few games. With three losses on the bounce however, they have shot down the table and are currently sat in 10th. With a number of tricky fixtures to navigate coming up, things could get worse for Villa before they get better; they don’t look like flirting with relegation again this year however.